katase shima

The hero of the story is Shima, or "Shipon" as Arisa dubs her, who joins the Stellvia foundation's space program with the dream of "seeing the stars while looking forward, rather than having to look up." Initially, she swings between being completely confident in her abilities and doubting herself entirely. Throughout the series, she is portrayed as extremely diligent, yet also a natural genius. As the series unfolds, Shima learns to accept her mistakes without feeling the need to be perfect, understanding that it's okay to fail sometimes. For example, after struggling initially in her training where she ranked last in piloting, she takes advice from Kouta Otoyama. She realizes she was attempting to process too much information from her ship's displays at once. This realization dramatically improves her piloting skills. Despite early challenges as a pilot, her programming skills are exceptional right from the start, and she eventually integrates both skills to become an even more capable pilot. She earns the nickname "Shipon" because during her first time piloting one of the Biancas, she flew around erratically, like a ping-pong ball. (Source: Wikipedia)
8
4
Characters
  • Arisa Glennorth (アリサ・グレンノース)

    Glennorth Arisa

    Main

    Arisa is Shipons best friend at the Stellvia foundation. They meet on the shuttle going to the station from Earth at the beginning of the term, and find themselves rooming together and in the same class as well. Though Arisa is nowhere near Shipon in acad...

  • Shima Katase (片瀬 志麻)

    Katase Shima

    Main

    The hero of the story is Shima (or "Shipon (しーぽん)" as she is dubbed by Arisa) who joins the Stellvia foundation's space program so that she could "see the stars while looking forward, rather than having to look up." In the beginning, she fluctuates betwee...

  • Kouta Otoyama (音山 光太)

    Otoyama Kouta

    Main

    Kouta is an enigmatic character. He and Shipon develop a romantic relationship but there's still a lot about him that remains unknown. He has an older sister who runs an astronomical observatory in Japan. He often gives advice which is as enigmatic as him...

  • Jinrai Shirogane (白銀 迅雷)

    Shirogane Jinrai

    Supporting

    Shirogane is another teacher at Stellvia's Space Academy; he appears to teach programming. He is particularly enthusiastic about the school's athletics carnival and Astroball, (a game that has some similarities with Lacrosse), which he played in his stude...